China built a farm on a disputed island in the South China Sea
In another show of force, China built a farm on an island in the disputed South China Sea, Defense One reports.
What was originally a sparse area, the Fiery Cross Reef, or Yongshu Island, is now a 2.74 square kilometer land mass boastinga farm, lighthouses, a tourist resort, a hospital.
Defense One reports that the farm contains a vegetable garden, fish pond, and around 500 livestock to include chicken, pigs and geese.
Territorial claims from Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, and China make the South China Sea one of the most disputed territories on the planet.
According to author and the chief geopolitical analyst for Stratfor, Robert D. Kaplan, "the South China Sea functions as the throat of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans - the mass of connective economic tissue where global sea routes coalesce."
"More than half of the world's annual merchant fleet tonnage passes through these choke points, and a third of all maritime traffic worldwide," Kaplan wrote in "Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific."
Meanwhile, China claims the majority of the contested region, which is home to $5 trillion in annual global trade.
Reuters
Although China is rapidly developing a military presence in the South China Sea, it also seems to be taking this two-pronged approach to legitimizing its ownership of the contested area - that is, putting forth the argument that it has developed a fledgling civilian population that is now able to sustain itself.
By providing evidence that their intentions for the island had been purely for peaceful purposes, they could make the persuasive argument that any encroachment, or even a threat to its sovereignty could be an addressable grievance by not just China, but by the rest of the UN.
- 10 Ultimate road trip routes in India for 2024
- Global stocks rally even as Sensex, Nifty fall sharply on Friday
- In second consecutive week of decline, forex kitty drops $2.28 bn to $640.33 bn
- SBI Life Q4 profit rises 4% to ₹811 crore
- IMD predicts severe heatwave conditions over East, South Peninsular India for next five days
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market